Wander & enjoy the diversity...it feeds your soul “What is more miraculous than the moment?” Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh

Last summer, my husband & I started the long PC application process.  This February, we were “nominated” (NOT “invited”…yet) to go to Central or South America & surprised to hear of our tentative placement in a region we hadn’t even contemplated.  Based on our job descriptions and where they were focused, we were slated to go to Central Europe/Eastern Asia, Pacific, or Africa!  With my background in nursing, my job assignment was in health education & with Chuck’s business background and his recently acquired TEFL certificate, he was offered a teaching (teachers & students) English position.

As many of you may know, the PC medical process is the next step & what we are wading through now.  Depending on how one answers the initial PC health questions, a nominee is required to then have appointments with a dentist, ophthalmologist, optometrist, medical physician, etc.  With each visit, we have been hearing either, “looks good!” or it “looks like you need further testing!”  YIKES!  Further testing?!  That is where we are now!  Repair a crown, visual acuity test, blood tests, immunizations, mammogram, second pair of glasses, echocardiogram, etc!!!   Good thing is, we are committed to being healthy, so we are also regular attendees of our community center and/or walking in the park and/or dancing, yoga!  It’s all good!  We love sunshine, the Vit D, as much as we can safely get – love the warmth, the fresh air, the beauty of the outdoors!

Another part of the PC process is SIMPLIFYING!  Getting ready to go!  Whether we lease or sell the house, we need less “STUFF.”  It feels really good to be finding the appropriate charity to donate videos, CD’s, books, clothes, household items, craft supplies, cameras, etc.  Less to take care of, less to move, less of a burden!  We feel lighter already.  We learned in Thailand, while living in a 3-room bungalow, that we really didn’t need any more than that.  We were MUCH happier with LESS!

So…we are peaceful with the PC process.  It is helping us to take the next step – whatever that may be.  If we don’t pass the medical, we have plan B, or C.  It is all good!  Even in these strange economic times, there are many options - - once we LET ourselves out of the “box” we had been in, we are envisioning a different life!  Apparently, so are many others – “envisioning a different life.”  We have been told that Peace Corps has many more applicants than they have placements for…that is really good for the PC & the world! 

EARTH day was yesterday & we watched a sobering TV special about the horrifying damage we are doing to our precious water, plants, fish, & animals – it seems as if mother EARTH is trying to give us all clues about how to really live – with ourselves & with each other - in community.  Whatever little or big steps we each take, it all moves the “mobile” of our interconnected lives.  Enjoy each moment – it is all we really have!